Shuttlecock



W- J. sTunER Oct. l1, 1949 SHUTTLEoocK Filed March 5, 1946 INVENToR,

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Patented Oct. 11,) 1949 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE sHU'rTLEcooK Walter J. Studer, Buffalo, N. Y. Application Mai-e115, 194s, serial No. 652,034

This invention relates to a shuttlecock and more particularly to such a shuttlecock used in playing the game of badminton. The invention is primarily directed to a shuttlecock madein whole or part of Wool or other relatively springy ber, such fluff ball shuttlecocks being largely used for practice and by novices since the oilcial badminton shuttlecock made of cork and bird feathers is delicate and is soon broken in practice or unskilled play.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide a badminton shuttlecock made in whole or part of wool or the like which simulates the oflicial badminton shuttlecock in flight, in particular having a iluif tail which serves toreverse the shuttlecock as it is driven back and forth whereby one side of the striking head is always presented to each player. l

Another object is to provide such a shuttlecock which closely simulates the feel and drive of an oilicial or standard shuttlecock, in particular having a relatively1 dense and hard head or a dense and hard mass close to the driving face determined by the tail.

Another object is to provide such a shuttlecock which can be produced at low cost.

Another aim is to provide such a shuttlecock which will stand up under conditions of severe and constant use.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a shuttlecock embodying one form of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal central section therethrough, taken on line 2-2, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 and showing a modified form of the invention.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal central section, taken on line 4 4, Fig. 3.

The shuttlecock shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is composed principally of a bundle of strands 5 of relatively stiff wool or similar springy brous material. This bundle of ystrands is gathered at its center to provide a dense, compact core B and this core is tied by one or more tie cords or bands 8 which encircle thecenter of the bundle to retain the core 6 as a dense compact mass and are tied to hold the strands together. The projecting ends of the strands are then flufled out.

The principal feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a comet-like tail fibrous on the shuttlecock so that in play it simulates the action of an official or regulation shuttlecock. To this end in the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the majority of the strands 5 1 Claim.` (Cl. 273-406) fil and on one side of the bundle are comparatively short and are trimmed to provide a rounding or ball-like head Il.` This head 9 also is shown as trimmed to provide a generally flattened striking face II), the `relatively hard, dense core 6 being relatively close to this ilattened striking face so that in play the rackets strike a relatively dense and hard body, as with a standard badminton shuttlecock, and impart substantially the same degree of driving force thereto.

The strands 5 on the opposite side of the bundle and at the opposite side of the shuttlecock from the flattened driving face I0 are much longer than the strands which form the head 9 so as to form a comet-like tail II. This tail is preferably trimmed to the length shown and serves as a rudder to cause the shuttlecock to ily with its flattened striking face in front, the tail reversing the shuttlecock each time it is played back and forth between the contestants so that the relatively dense striking face III is presented to each player. The long strands forming the tail I I are preferably gathered separately from the short strands of the head 9 and can be tied at their center by a common tie 8 or can be separately tied and then tied together by the common tie 8.

In order to retain the shape of the comet-like tail II, and thereby insure a regular trajectory in the flight of the shuttlecock, the base of the tail is preferably encircled by a relatively wide band I2 to form a relatively rigid shaft connecting said head and tail in spaced relation to each other. This band can be of any material,

7 such as adhesive tape, and serves to retain the tail in the general form shown.

In order to further stiifen the driving face I0 of the shuttlecock the central part of this face is preferably sprayed with an air drying plastic such as collodion, this coating of plastic or other stiffening agent being indicated at I3, although it will be understood that the showing of this coating I3 is exaggerated for the purpose of illustration, the coating actually being imperceptible except by touch.

In the use of the shuttlecock it will be seen that its action closely simulates an oflicial or standard shuttlecock and at the same time the durability of a wool fluff ball is achieved. Thus the tail II serves to reverse the position of the shuttlecock in flight each time the shuttlecock is struck. Also the opposite extremity of the shuttlecock is in the form of a relatively hard, dense mass provided by the core 6 close to the flattened striking face IIl so that the response to the impact of the racket closely resembles an oflicial or standard badminton shuttlecock.

The form of the invention shown in Figs. 3 and 4 has a head i5 which is shown as being made of cork in the form of a round nosed cylindrical bullet although it could be made of plastic or other light weight material responding to the impact of a racket and could be of any suitable form. The head l5 is shown as having an axial bore i@ extending inwardly from the circular face opposite its striking face.

The tail is shown as made of a bundle i3 of springy fibers such as Wool, one end of this bundle being compacted into a cylindricalzshaft and held by a tape I9. The shaft or taped cylindrical end of the bundle i8 of fibers is inserted in the bore l5 and is secured thereinwvith any suitable cementitious material or other fastening means. in Figs. i and 2, the shaft or tape I9 extends a substantial distance beyond the head of the shuttlecock so that the fiuffed out tail and head of the shuttlecock are connected by a Wasp-like Waist, this having been found to be most im'- portantin securing a regular trajectory in the flight of the shuttlecock.

It will therefore be seen that the invention provides a durable shuttlecock which can be used in'practice or -by novices Without the constant danger of damaging the `same and at the same timeclosely simulates the action, feel and drive of a-standard or oiTcial badminton shuttleccck.

I claim. as my invention:

A-badminton shuttlecock, comprising a cylindrical head of rigid material having a hemispher- As with the form of the invention shown f ical striking face at one axial end and a flat radial back face at its opposite axial end, said head being provided With a cylindrical bore substantially smaller in diameter than said head and extending from said flat radial back face to a point in closely spaced relation to said hemispherical striking face, a bundle of strands of springy bers, a tape tightly encircling one end of said bundle of bers to provide a cylindrical contracted portion of substantially the same diameter as said bore and at least equal to the length thereof, and an adhesive securing said taped cylindrical contracted portion Within said borefwith its extremity against the inner end of said bore, the ends of the strands projecting outwardly from said taped cylindrical contracted portion being fluffed out to provide a comet-like tail for said head with the ends of said strands substantially uniformly distributed over the entire end face of said tail.

WALTER J. STUDER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the l'e of this patent:

UNITED STATE-S PATENTS Number Name Date 89,516 Stone Apr. 27, 1869 619,762 Kissinger et al Feb. 21, 1899 2,012,730 Reid Aug. 27, 1935 2,088,573 Bramall Aug. 3, 1937 2,212,079 Saunders Aug. 20, 1940 2,247,486 Emerson July l, 1941 2,360,173 Tanger Oct. 10, 1944 

